Don't Give Up On Me
by manda021509
Summary: They find her beaten and almost dead, but why would someone do this to her? (I re-wrote the first chapter)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own only my character.

It was early morning, the brisk air cut through the slats in the boarded up windows and the rising sun slowly crept in. As it made it's way higher in the sky and the rays shone farther into the room, they revealed the features of a young woman, lying motionless on the floor. She stirred slightly as the sun assaulted her lightly closed eyes and a frown on her lips caused a furrow on her forehead. She sat up slowly, grumbling slightly and running a hand through her dirty brown hair. She blinked against the harsh rays and allowed her eyes to adjust to the brightness.

"Shit," she murmured, rubbing her forehead with one hand while she propped herself up with the other.

She could only remember a few details that led her to be where she is now, the first thing was that Meredith was dead. She couldn't change that, but she felt the hot tears threatening to spill again. She had sobbed herself to sleep last night, mourning the loss of her friend, cursing the men who sold her that first hit. And then she cursed herself for ever getting involved, for lending her money, for refusing her anymore, for taking her in when she was evicted, for every single thing she had tried to do. That night will never leave her.

_Callista walked from the living room, where she left Meredith, back to her bedroom to retrieve some more blankets. She planned on forcing her to go to the hospital, she would break her of this habit one way or another. She was just gathering up a pillow when she heard the sound of her door opening, quiet and slow._

"_Dammit, Meredith," she whispered as she turned and headed back down the hall. She stopped just short of the living room when she heard a man talking in a low firm voice._

"_Now Meri, where is the money you owe us?" he asked calmly._

"_I, I, I told you… I don't have a-a-a-any," Meredith sobbed._

_Callista heard the sound of a boot making contact with a body and the sound of Meredith gasping for breath._

"_Meri, baby, I'm not asking you again. Where the FUCK is the money!" he repeated much louder this time._

_Callista was frozen, she couldn't move, she stifled a whimper and stood with her back to the wall, eyes closed and her hand covering her mouth. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks and onto her collar bone, she had never felt so scared._

_Meredith's gasps subsided to quiet sobs and finally just a trembling whimper. She heard the man walk a few steps and then return, "I've grown tired of this game, Meredith," he said solemnly. _

_A small pop sound came next, it sounded like a small pellet gun, but Callista knew it had to be some sort of silencer, she didn't dare look around the corner, but she did. She couldn't contain her scream when she saw the blood pouring out on the carpet and Meredith's lifeless eyes all glassy and far-off looking. The man's head snapped up and he saw her, a sick smile spread on his lips. She bolted as fast as she could down the hall and tried to slam the door shut, but he was right behind her and he hit the door with such force it knocked her into the dresser. Everything went black._

That was when she woke up here later that next day, and she remained in that small room with no contact from her captors, she only heard what went on through the door. Funny to think that something as simple as a few inches of wood could separate her from freedom. She stood tenderly on her feet, her left leg ached slightly from when she fell into the dresser, her head a nice gash on the side of it, she touched it lightly. The blood had dried and congealed, but it still throbbed when she stood, she braced herself against the wall and leaned against the door to listen.

"Shit, shit, you've got to be kidding me?" a man said hurriedly.

From the long pauses, Callista assumed he was on the phone.

"Ok, yes, ok," pause, "yes of course, that can be arranged," pause, "Charming? Are you sure?" pause, "If you think it's the safest bet, then I would have to agree. Yes, I'll get on it now," he finished.

She heard his phone snap shut and his foot falls came straight for her door, she back up a few feet as the door swung open. It revealed the man from her apartment, his gray crew cut and tattooed beck made him hard to forget.

"Come with me," he commanded.

Callista obeyed, not wanting to cause any more trouble for herself. She followed him through the small room and out into what appeared to be a barn, she looked down at her dirty tank top and pajama shorts that were not very covering. She had no shoes on and shivered at the crisp air outside. The man turned and looked at her, he seemed to almost pity her in a sadistic way. He tossed her a jacket.

"Wouldn't want you to be cold, Miss," he said casting a strange glance at her, it was almost sheepish.

She shuddered.

They got into his truck and drove for a mile or so and she saw a sign that read, "WELCOME TO CHARMING" she smirked, not quite so charming to her considering her situation. They pulled up to a cigar shop, it was still quite early and the streets were bare. She followed him inside.

A slightly more sturdy man in a suit glanced at her from what he was doing at the desk and smiled, "Why hello Miss Thomas, I've been hearing about you. My name is Ethan Zobelle, and I am the key to you getting out of this horrible mess,".

She cocked an eyebrow at him, she couldn't understand what he meant or how he could sound so calm when her life was at stake.

"All I need is for you to pay us back the money your friend owed us," he said matter-of-factly.

"But, how much did she owe?" Callista dared.

"Almost 15 grand, between lost bets and drugs and the money she would pocket when she would provide some company to my business partners," Zobelle said, taking a puff of his cigar.

"W-wh-what?!" Callista sputtered, "I don't have that,"

"That's too bad, I have no use for you. Get rid of her," He said turning around.

"WAIT!" she yelled, but the other man covered her mouth with his hand and grabbed her roughly. He pulled her out of the shop and shoved her back into the truck. As she glanced out the back windshield as the truck roared back down the quiet street, she caught the eye of the Sheriff. She gave him a pleading look before the truck made an abrupt right turn out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own only my character.

Unser watched the girl in the back of that truck, he couldn't shake that bad feeling he gets when he knows something is about to happen.

"Ahh shit," he muttered as he climbed inside his cruiser and headed toward Teller-Morrow.

He drove a little over the speed limit, figuring this was a slight emergency, he saw Juice pull out in front of him in the tow truck and followed him back to the garage. Once inside the gates and after putting the cruiser in park, he climbed out. Juice jumped out of the tow truck and flashed him that goofy grin of his, but before he could even say a word, Unser cut him off.

"Where's Clay?" he said abruptly, "I have some information I think he may like to hear,".

"Uh, I'm sure he's in the clubhouse, I mean, just head on in," Juice said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the building behind him.

Unser walked toward the main door and caught the attention of every SAMCRO member present, whether they be working on a bike, car or just bullshitting each other, they all paused to watch the sheriff walk by. He cast friendly, yet serious smiles in their directions, but never faltered in his stride. He stepped in the door and saw Clay had his back to him, talking in a hushed tone to Jax, who cast a quick glance at Unser and then nodded his head toward him so that Clay would turn. Clay flashed him a big toothy grin and spread his arms as he stepped toward him.

"Unser," he said, looking glad to see him, "Just the man I needed to see,"

"Well, Clay, you better hold that thought until after we talk," Unser replied.

"Ok, but I think I may have a need for your hauling business," Clay said with a wink.

"We can discuss that later, right now I have some information that you may find useful. I was just in town and I saw one of Zobelle's guys hauling a dirty, beat up looking girl out of that cigar shop he has. No reason for him to be having any sort of ellicit affiars going on inside Charming, but just out of curiosity, I'd like to talk to that girl. She looked terrified," Unser said clearing his throat at the end. He knew good and well the the Sons weren't interested in playing rescue, but he couldn't just let that girl be killed in his town, not now. He hoped Clay wouldn't think too hard on this and just appease him and do it, but then again, he had known Clay for a long long time.

"Huh, now you know we don't like to play hero, especially for something we don't know anything about. Sometimes those sweet butts get in a little over their heads, I'm sure they'll just drop her off somewhere and she'll be fine," Clay said smoothly.

"Yeah, I know, but she may know some personal things, about Zobelle, maybe she's willing to part with those secrets for a price," Unser tried.

"Well, my friend, I would, but not tonight, I have a very important meeting with the Mayans, hopefully going to get a good business relationship established. I don't think there will be enough time to be concerned with this other matter," Clay bristled, becoming annoyed that Unser wouldn't let it go.

"That's fine, Clay, but if this girl shows up dead, its on you," Unser spat turning and walking away.

Clay watched him retreat, feeling slightly sorry for the old man, getting slightly soft in his age and failing to see the bigger and more important picture. Jax turned to him and gave him a hard and unforgiving look.

"We don't kill women or kids, and we sure as hell don't let them get killed," he said eyeing the president.

"Well then fine, you wanna go on this search mission, go, but I'm taking a majority of the guys with me tonight," Clay resigned, turning and walking out the door.

Jax sighed, he hoped this would be worth it, or else he would be on Clay's shit list for quite some time. He wandered out the door and into the garage and called Opie aside.

"Listen, you and me are gonna go track down Zobelle's guys and see what they're doing tonight, we have a hunch they have some girl and we don't know what exactly they plan to do with her," Jax explained.

Opie nodded, "Ok, but what about the mayans?".

"Clay said he would take care of it, he just wants the majority with him, I mean he'll want Tig, that's a given and anywhere he goes, Koz will follow, Chibs and Happy won't want to go play hero with us, so they're out, and the Prospect won't want to cross him, so there is no way he's gonna come," Jax reasoned.

Both men stood facing each other, trying to decided who their third man could be, when Juice came stumbling through the door, dropping about five different tools he was attempting to carry at once.

"AH SHIT!" he cursed as he tripped over one trying to pick up another. He glanced up when he realized they were standing there and flashed a huge smile, "Sup?".

Opie and Jax just grinned from Juice to each other, they had found their third man.

Late that evening, just as dark was settling, Juice jumed in the driver's side of the van and followed Jax and Opie on their bikes. They made their way through the twists and turns of the roads until they came to a stop at pull off. It was determined that they would walk the rest of the way and try and surprise the men holding the girl. They walked silently through the woods, weapons drawn, taking no chances. They came across the house, not a light was on, they walked around the back and saw a barn a few hundred yards back, a faint light emitted through the cracks in the siding. The men jogged back to it and peaked through the spaces between the boards.

The girl hung by her wrists, her head bleeding, the left side of her rib cage turning purple, and her wrists were bleeding. She didn't move. Just then the sound of glass bottles and men's laughter shook them from their distraught thoughts. Three men sauntered over to where the girl was, they cut her down and one man grabbed a rope from inside a box. They made their way outside and into the woods, they stumbled along, tugging the barely conscious girl along with them. She moaned and stumbled and even fell a few times, the Sons decided to wait until they were free and clear of the house before they made any moves, just in case.

About one hundred yards into the tree line the man with the rope fashioned it over a sturdy limb and tied one end around the girl's throat. The man holding her lifted her up a ways and the third man grabbed the loose end of the rope and tied it tight to another tree. Just like that they let go of her, she struggled profusely against the rope around her neck but had no energy to attempt to free herself. The three men toasted bottles and walked back toward the barn.

All three Sons couldn't believe what they had just witnessed, Jax jumped up first from his position in the thick brush and made an attempt to follow the men, Opie ran to the girl and lifted her up to relieve the pressure of the rope on her neck, and Juice frantically sawed at the tied end to try and free it.

Jax had a clear shot at every single one of those bastards, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, he just kept thinking of the war that would erupt and maybe this girl would be better off if they thought she was dead. He lowered his gun and puffed out a few breaths he had been holding, he turned and headed back toward the others.

Juice got the rope free and the girl slumped limply into Opie's arms. She barely moved until the took off the blindfold, she took one look at Jax and Opie and freaked. She scooted back until she hit Juice, who placed his hands protectively on her shoulders, this caused her to jump sky high. She spun around to face him, she stared hard into his deep brown eyes and her brow furrowed, she felt the tears, but she couldn't fight them. She looked over her shoulder at the other two men, and she just felt as if all the weight of this whole mess came crashing down on her, the tears slid down her cheeks and she felt herself attempting to stifle another heavy sob. She lowered her head, but felt a hand come across her cheek and wipe away a tear, she glanced up tentatively.

"Hey," the guy with the deep brown eyes and odd hair cut whispered, "You're going to be fine, everything is going to be ok," he smiled a very small smile, nothing much, just a reassuring one.

She couldn't return it at that moment, but she believed every word he said.


	3. Chapter 3

Calista sat watching as the three men started to descend down the small slope toward the road. She had, after a little coaxing, decided she would go with them back to town. Opie, Jax and Juice, what odd names, she had thought when they had introduced themselves to her. She had some serious doubts about going anywhere with these three, but she reluctantly realized she had no other options. She glanced down at herself, she had dirt and dried blood on her legs, her face and her arms. She had on nothing but her tattered tank top and boy shorts. She suddenly felt self conscious and wrapped her arms around herself and slowly started to follow them.

She soon remembered she had no shoes on after she stepped on the first sharp stone, "Fuck," she muttered.

The man with the dark brown eyes, Juice, if she remembered correctly, must have heard her because he faultered in his stride and glanced over his shoulder. He looked at her as she slowly and cautiously picked her way down the rocky little path.

"Ah, man," he whispered to himself as he shook his head and turned to job back to her.

Opie stared thoughtfully over and Jax as they walked in perfect synchronized steps back to the where they had parked the bikes. Jax could feel his eyes on him and finally decided to meet the gaze of his long time best friend.

"So what's your plan once we get her back there?" Opie asked.

"I don't know man," Jax answered, realizing for the first time that he didn't honestly have a plan.

"I mean either take her back to the club or we could just maybe set her up in a room, let her figure this out," Opie reasoned.

"Yea, but I mean what about the guys who did this to her, if they come back and see that she's not dead, they're going to go looking for her, and leaving her alone may not be the best idea. She won't stand a chance," Jax replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, then I guess we know what we're going with her," Opie concluded, "What do you think Clay's gonna say?"

"I don't know man, I don't know," Jax said, a small smile on his lips.

Calista looked up as the guy came jogging back toward her, she stopped in her tracks and straightened up as he came to stop by her side.

"Hey, how's it coming back here?" he said catching his breath.

"Uh, ok, I guess. I sort of forgot that I don't have shoes, and this ground is just a little rough," She said quietly, not making much eye contact.

"Oh, yeah, I see that," he said glancing down, "Um, here I can help you,"

He lightly touched her upper arm, she flinched, but relaxed after she realized his grip was gentle yet firm enough to steady her. She cast a quick glance up at him as he helped her walk and she couldn't help but feel a small smile play behind her lips. He looked back and caught her staring, he flashed a small quick smile, she instantly looked back down.

Once they got down to where the \road became much rougher offered to carry her, but she just shook her head, she would manage, no way was some strange man going to carrying her, that was just too close for comfort for her. She still had her doubts about going anywhere with them.

When they reached the spot where the bikes were hidden off the side of the road, Calista noted a black cargo van parked with the engine idling. She slowed her pace and looked toward the men she was with for some sort of signal that this was okay. All three men looked up and gave either a head nod or a small wave toward the man that exited the van.

"Man, you shit heads are lucky Clay wrapped that shit up with the Mayans early or else you would have had some serious explaining to do to Hale. I don't know about you guys, but I don't see how you can talk your way out of having a beat up half dressed girl on the back of one of your bikes at two in the morning," The man said lighting up his cigarette and shaking his curly black hair out of his face.

"Yeah, thanks again, Tig," Jax said slapping him on the shoulder as he passed him.

"You think you'll be ok if you ride back with Tig," Juice said looking down at her, he said it with this look in his eye like he was speaking to a small child.

She was slightly annoyed by this treatment, but thought better than to say anything, she just looked from this Tig character back to Juice and made a mental assessment that if these men trusted him and he wore the same leather jacket as them, it must be ok.

"Um, yeah, sure," She answered, looking at him this time.

Tig stepped toward her and took Juice's place at her side, taking care not to grip her too tightly. He looked her up and down and then glanced back at Jax and shrugged, Calista didn't view it as a threatening gesture just maybe a part of this guy's personality. She allowed him to lead her to the van and help her in. Once he climbed into the drivers seat and reached into the back and pulled an old hoodie out and tossed it to her.

"I know it's not the cleanest, but it's big enough to cover you up a bit," he said, the cigarette dangling from his lips.

Calista pulled it over her head and sure enough, it went to her knees, for once being short was useful and she looked out the window as the bikes revved up and the van started down the road.

The ride back was quiet, Calista wasn't much of a conversation starter and this guy didn't seem to know what to say, he just smoked his cigarette and stared at the road ahead, luckily it was only a 15 minute drive. They pulled into the large parking lot and parked along side a garage with the name Teller-Morrow on the top. Tig got out of the van and Calista tentatively opened her door and slid out, her feet hitting the cool hard pavement, thankful for a break from all the stones and gravel. She heard the bikes shut off and she peeked around the back end of the van to the place where the four men gathered. She leaned against the van, sliding down until her butt rested on the bumper, she let out a long sigh that she had been holding in for too long. She leaned her head back and closed her very tired eyes, this day has had too much excitement for her. She felt a presence standing over her, she caught her breath in her throat and very cautiously opened her eyes, Juice was staring back down at her, a slight smile on his face.

"Hey," she breathed out, returning the small gesture.

"Hey," he simply replied.

"So, now what?" she asked, straightening herself up and casting a wary look around.

"Well, I figure you'll just crash here for the night, get cleaned up, have the doc look at you and we can figure out all the logistics in the morning," he explained. He ran a hand over his short Mohawk and looked up toward where Jax, Opie and Tig were standing.

"Doc?" Calista questioned, casting a skeptical look at her new tattooed acquaintance.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, just Jax's old lady, she's cool," he said.

Calista could tell he was trying everything to keep her from booking it out of there by making it seem like it was going to be some sort of easy going one night stay, but she was far from stupid. She knew this was some sort of club and they had something to do with those men that tried to kill her. Whether they be rivals or comrades she wasn't sure, but she knew you didn't just walk into something like this and come out unscathed. There was a lot to repay for protection like this.

Jax waved her over to him, she stood up and made her way to him. He put an arm around her shoulders and said, "Welcome to Hotel T&M, where the beers cold, the men are assholes and there is always a place to crash,"

She knew it was supposed to comfort her, but she still had some serious doubts about what she had just gotten herself into.


End file.
